Recipe Sifter

No-bake butterscotch bars with applesauce, vanilla wafers, raisins, and wheat germ, cooked in the microwave in 8 minutes. A quick, chewy snack bar the kids will love.

Curry basmati rice with your choice of vegetables, designed for easy meal prep. Cook the rice, pack with raw veggies, and microwave at work for a hot, healthy lunch in minutes.

Honey-dipped cookies, the Greek melomakarona, are oval spiced cookies fragrant with orange, cognac, and cinnamon, soaked in honey syrup and showered with walnuts. An irresistible Christmas tradition from the Aegean kitchen.

Homemade low-calorie cranberry concentrate with lemon, simmered and strained into a tart syrup. Refrigerate or freeze in cubes for instant cranberry drinks all season long.

Kompot w spirytusie, a traditional Polish 12-fruit compote with dried fruits, fresh apples, cranberries, cherries, and brandy. A Christmas Eve dessert simmered with warm spices.

"Easy, fast and delicious! I created this recipe so I could feed a crowd on a moments notice and still expect raves. Make the sauce a day ahead and the flavor even improves. This way you can spend time with your guests, not slaving in the kitchen."

If you run out of preserved lemons, or decide on just a few day's notice to cook a chicken, lamb, or fish dish with lemons and olives and need preserved lemons in a hurry, you can use this quick five-day method taught to me by a Moroccan diplomat's wife. Lemons preserved this way will not keep, but are perfectly acceptable in an emergency.

Homemade dried orange or lemon peel air-dried at room temperature and ground into powder. A single-ingredient pantry staple that replaces citrus extract in baking, flavors teas, and punches up sauces.

Homemade mocha coffee mix with instant coffee, hot cocoa mix, powdered creamer, and sugar. Mix a jar, scoop and stir with hot water for an instant cafe mocha.

Pan-fried trout draped in a silky cream sauce with honey, lemon, and toasted almonds. A rustic European-style fish supper that feels indulgent but comes together quickly.

Spicy and tasty way to have potatoes. You can use any type of Thai curry. I use a taste of Thai Panang Curry Paste.

Baked apples stuffed with oats and brown sugar, dusted in cinnamon, and baked in a splash of grape juice until tender and bubbling. A cozy fall dessert with no butter and a warm, spiced finish.

Seasoned mystery crackers made with oyster crackers tossed in buttery oil, cream of chicken soup mix, garlic powder, and parsley. Addictive no-bake party snack ready in minutes.

Sweet and sour apples, crunchy and savory celeries, nutty and salty peanuts, and a lemon-dijon dressing make a delicious, light yet refreshing salad.

Sunny citrus cubes: bright orange and grapefruit juice set with gelatin into firm, tangy jelly squares with a walnut crunch. A diabetic-friendly no-cook treat.

Cranberry rice stuffing with brown rice, fresh cranberries, mushrooms, and herbs. A lighter, diabetic-friendly alternative to bread stuffing for roast chicken.